Mostly about games, but with occasional detours into other nerdy territories.

The Open Game Table

I meant to mention this last week but it kind of got trumped by the Haiti bundle ($137k and counting!) and I forgot about it until now. The nominations for the 2009 Open Game Table anthology got posted over at The Core Mechanic, and its a substantial list – 375 entries in all.

For those unfamiliar with the Open Game Table, the idea is more or less a collection of the best writings (which is to say, blog posts) on gaming of the past year. This started last year, and given that they apparently have twice as many nominations this year, it sounds like it’s getting some traction.

Now, this is not any kind of suggestion to go vote – the actual voting is now in the hands of a secret panel – rather it’s an urging to go look at the list. If you want to see one concentrated collection of really fantastic game writing all in one place, you would be hard pressed to do better. Take some time and look through the list, and if you see a blog you don’t recognize, take a minute to click through and give it a read. This is how you find treasures.

Now, I know that reading 375 posts is probably a bit to much to ask of anyone (and a reason to sympathize with the judges) so let me offer one other tip: look for the blogs that only got nominated once. There are several blogs (mine included[1]) which received multiple nominations. While this is by no means any kind of bad reflection on those blogs, it also suggests they’ve got an existing fanbase who were willing to advocate for them. If a blog got only a single nomination, then odds are that article is something really special (as is the case with my favorite of the batch, Fred Hicks’ “No Silent Fan“.

So go, read. I’ve kept it short today, so use the time to read something awesome. And if you find a post that particularly stands out, feel free to call attention to it in the comments![2]

1 – Though all from my LiveJournal before I swapped to here. I feel…obscure.

2 – And in keeping with Fred’s advice, comment on the post too – tell them how you found it and what you liked!